'Maleficent' Trailer -- A Modern Disney Classic

'Maleficent' is of rare quality and should take its place alongside Disney classics like 'Cinderella' and 'Sleeping Beauty'. The story and characters have a complexity we rarely see and the VFX are of the highest standard.

This will rake at the box office.

Angelina Jolie Tells Louis Zamperini's Story

Angelina Jolie's direction looks very assured. Based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" with a script by Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, and William Nicholson, and cinematography by Roger Deakins.

A luminous trailer. 'Unbroken' is shaping up to be a must-see.

Scary Cheekbones, Scarier Smile

'Maleficent' is looking better with each snippet we see. This new mini trailer plays so smooth and keeps the tension high. I like the production value, especially the surprisingly well done CGI, like the vine dragon at :55. The song, I don't know what it is, meanders like a drunk through tonalities, and is a fair match for the visual atmospherics.

Really, though, this is Angelina Jolie's show and she tears the heart out of every frame. Those cheekbones are something but that smile is vile, deliciously so -- she wields it like a weapon.

I can't help but wonder if this will be too intense for younger kids. Looking forward.

Elegant, Authoritative, Frightening

Not a campy approach to say the least. Angelina Jolie's entrance, which is in voice only, is powerful, smooth, utterly confident and, yes, scary.

This seems directly connected to the Disney of the 40s and 50s. There's an elegance in this antagonist that belongs to another era. This (wicked) fairy godmother has little in common with the usual puffed-up bad guys, full of themselves, or gruesome monstrosities wholly lacking in any quality that suggests refinement. Jolie's Maleficent is a worthy 'Mistress of all Evil' for a contemporary audience. She is frightening because she is powerful, intellectual, cunning and, most of all, vulnerable. The character elicits antipathy and sympathy in equal measure.

This will score with kids as well as adults, and will probably be must-see for cinephiles. Exciting, lush...wow.

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Get Back Poster for 'Maleficent'

Wow, they really pulled all the stops out for this poster.

I love how Angelina Jolie is placed on the extreme left, looking to the left. Very dynamic oddness that works perfectly for this character. The horns fill the negative space on upper right nicely. The eyes are too too, and that red lipstick is to die for. Come on, who wouldn't die for that lipstick.

Looks fandamntastick.